Hannah's Horror: A Romantic Mystery

by Isabella Kole

  "She knows what she wants to do as far as her career is concerned?" he asked.

  "Well, I want to write in some fashion, we all know that. My degree will be in Journalism. As for Cassie, she plans to teach. I know she has checked around with a few local school districts."

  "Do your folks know I've mentioned marriage? I should talk to your dad the next time we visit them."

  "I haven't said anything. I know you want to do things the old-fashioned way, so that's why I kept it quiet, to give you a chance to do that."

  "I know it may seem crazy in this day and age, but I've always thought that was a great custom, asking the father."

  "My family adores you, so I don't think you have anything to worry about there."

  "My folks are pretty darn fond of you, too," he said. "I guess it runs in the family, since I think you're one special lady."

  "Hmph, I'm special all right. Right down to the crazy. And you're sure that doesn't scare you off?"

  "If you're referring to the ghostly visits, it's a bit unnerving to think about, but it doesn't change the way I feel about you. That's a part of who you are. It's a rather unusual, yet special gift."

  "It touches my heart to hear you say that, Chad. I know it's a concern, but you've handled it well."

  "As long as you are out of harm's way…"

  "It's actually getting chilly out here. I think I'm ready to go in. How about you?" she asked.

  "Let's stack these dishes on the tray, and I'll set them outside the door. Then, we can snuggle with a movie again, if you like."

  "I would like that. We rarely get to do that when we are home, what with our schedules and all."

  Hannah spent another peaceful night in her hotel room. There were no ghostly visits again. It was just the two of them, enjoying each other's company, relaxing together. The perfect vacation, as far as she was concerned.

  She snuggled closer to Chad, breathing in his scent, rubbing her fingers through his hair and whispering to him. They talked long into the night, planning the future they would share together.

  The next day marked the halfway point of the trip. Could she hope for another day without a visit from beyond?

  Falling asleep in the protective haven of Chad's arms, she knew that whatever the rest of the week might hold, she would be safe. She had to be, with such an awesome future to look forward to.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wednesday started out just like any other day of a beach vacation. Hannah enjoyed coffee on the balcony with her love, they later met Cassie and Alan for breakfast, and the four of them made plans for the day.

  "Broadway at the Beach gets my vote," Alan said.

  "It does look like there's a lot to do there," Cassie agreed.

  "I'm up for anything. This has been the absolute best week ever so far," Hannah said.

  Chad smiled at her. "Yes, I guess it has at that," he agreed.

  "Okay, let's finish up here and meet back in the lobby at ten," Alan suggested.

  "Yes, sir," Hannah said laughingly.

  "Watch it there, missy. Be nice or I'll conjure up a ghost for you," he answered jokingly.

  "That's not really funny, but considering you're such a good guy and I might need to seek you out for therapy one day, I'll let you slide this time."

  Hannah saw Cassie and Chad both shaking their heads. It was amazing the way the four of them got along. She hoped that would continue for years to come. She had liked her roommate's boyfriend from the first time she'd met him. She knew that Cassie approved of Chad, too. That kind of friendship made trips like these possible.

  It turned out to be a long and fun-filled day. They shopped, had pictures taken in a photo booth, played games at an arcade, ate tons of food, took in the wax museum and finished the day with dinner and a concert.

  "Oh, this has been so much fun. I feel like such a kid again," Cassie said when they finally sat down to enjoy a nice dinner.

  "I know, it's just been great," Hannah agreed.

  Even their boyfriends had to admit they had enjoyed the day. "I haven't played arcade games since I was in school," Alan said.

  "The wax museum was my favorite, but you all are right. It has been an awesome day," Chad added.

  The concert was the perfect ending to a wonderful day. When they returned to the hotel, four tired but happy tourists, they were surprised to see police cars and a crowd of people gathered around at one of the neighboring hotels.

  "I wonder what that's all about?" Alan asked as Chad parked the car.

  "I don't know, but I am sure we'll hear about it from someone," Chad replied.

  "I just hope we hear about it from someone on this side of the spectrum and not the other," Hannah said glumly.

  "Oh, sweetie, hopefully it's not something too terribly bad," Cassie said in an effort to comfort her friend.

  "Let's just go in," Hannah said with a slight shiver. She had an eerie feeling about the whole scene.

  When they entered the lobby, they heard one of the other guests ask the clerk at the desk if he knew what was going on next door.

  "I heard there's a little boy missing. I don't have any details."

  "Oh, how horrible for the parents," the guest said sadly.

  Hannah looked over at Chad. His face was grim. "I hope they find him soon. This is a big place for a small child to get lost. Let's pray that he wasn't abducted or didn't wander into the ocean and get swept away by a wave…or worse."

  "Chad!"

  "I'm sorry, honey, being a doctor, I see all kinds of things. Any one of those things I just said are entirely possible. I am praying that isn't the case and that they find him soon."

  Cassie put her arm around Hannah's shoulders. "It may be a long night for you."

  Hannah sighed. "Oh, I hope not. I don't think I could bear it if something horrible has happened to that baby."

  "My suggestion is we all go up to our rooms and try to get some rest. If something happens…we are right next door. Don't hesitate to wake us," Alan said.

  "Good idea," Chad agreed. He took Hannah's hand and said, "Come on, sweetheart, let's go up and get you settled in."

  She loved the way he took care of her. By settling her in, it could only mean that he would prepare a nice bath for her, possibly order something from room service, tea or something stronger to help her sleep. The best part would be his arms around her as she drifted off to sleep.

  She was correct in her assumption. As soon as he locked the door behind him, he instructed her to sit down. "Take a load off. I'm going to fill the Jacuzzi for you."

  "Join me?" she asked.

  "Now, that's the best offer I've had all day. Be right back."

  True to his word, he returned a few minutes later. He walked over to where she sat and pulled her up. Slowly, sensuously, his face dipped, and his breath blew hot across her face just before his lips assaulted hers. When he ended the kiss, he slowly peeled her clothing from her body, dropping each article in a pile on the floor. Then he took her hand and led her into the massive bathroom.

  He helped her into the tub full of bubbles and warm water. When he was sure she was okay, he did a striptease for her eyes only, treating her to some laughable moments as he tantalized her jokingly.

  And then he was in the huge tub with her. He kissed her again before picking up a cloth and gently rubbing it over her body. He bathed her in a gentle yet sexy manner, and by the time he was finished, he had succeeded in erasing all worry from her mind. For the time being, at least. She reciprocated by washing the day's grime from his body. Teasingly pausing when she reached the part that was already saying hello by peeking out of the bubbles at her, she said, "Well, hello there, mister. Do I know you?"

  Chad laughed heartily before he came back with, "Would you like to, missy?"

  "Oh, we must be tired. We are getting really goofy and slap-happy here."

  "Isn't that what vacations are all about?" he asked as he lunged for her.

  After that, they didn't need goofy wo
rds. For the first time in her life, Hannah made love in a Jacuzzi tub full of bubbles. Oh, they'd done it in the shower plenty of times, but never in the tub. An experience she definitely planned to repeat soon, she decided.

  Chad got out of the tub before carefully reaching down and lifting her out. He stood her up on the cold tile floor and briskly dried her with one of the oversize bath towels. After wrapping it securely around her, he quickly dried himself and scooped her into his arms. With one hand, he pulled back the covers and then deposited her in the very center of the comfortable king-sized bed.

  He went back into the bathroom to let the water out of the tub and while there, he grabbed the hotel robes hanging on the back of the door. He wrapped one around himself and handed the other to her.

  "I'm going to call down for room service, so you might want to put that on, just for a little while."

  She giggled. "Don't want to give the room server a heart attack?"

  He gave her a devilish look. "I think it'd be better not to."

  He ordered a pot of hot English tea and a split of rum. She was right, soothing tea and liquor to make her sleep. She knew him so well.

  When the tray arrived, Chad poured tea into a cup for her, added a generous shot of the rum and carried it to her.

  When she took the rum laced tea from him, she asked, "Aren't you having any?"

  "I'll have some tea, but one of us needs to have a clear head. I want you to try to get some peaceful sleep. If something has happened to that boy, do you expect a visitor tonight?"

  "I never know when, or if, it's going to happen. This only all started with Robert's ghost in Iowa, and then Roman's came later. The girl in the mountains was next. It's all so new to me. I wonder why it just started happening this summer."

  "Maybe this 'gift,' as the fortune teller called it, doesn't begin until you reach a certain age. Who knows? I would have never believed it if I hadn't witnessed Roman Carrington's ghost with my own eyes. I have to admit, though, as a physician, I have had plenty of patients who tell me they saw loved ones who had passed while under anesthesia. So, just in case, I want you to curl up under those covers and try to sleep. I know you're tired. We all are."

  "You aren't joining me?" she asked with a pout.

  "I will, I want to go down to the lobby and see if there's been any new developments before I turn in."

  "Okay."

  "Should I call Cassie to come over?"

  "I'll be all right, go on down."

  Hannah half expected to see a ghostly figure appear to her in his absence. That was the reason she didn't have Cassie stay with her. If she could help the little boy and his family, she needed to do so.

  But nothing of the sort happened. Chad returned a short time later with the news that a search party was underway. The news media was beginning to arrive, and he figured by morning, the place would be a madhouse.

  "I guess we'll stick close by here tomorrow, then," she said as she drifted off.

  * * *

  The details were still sketchy. What he hadn't had time to tell her before she fell asleep was that the boy had apparently wandered off in a crowd. His father was holding his hand, and when the child spotted something that caught his eye, he was off and running. The parents chased after him, but the crowd was so thick, they quickly lost him. Immediately, they alerted the authorities, and they began putting together a search party. To be four-years-old and all alone in a strange place, one as busy as Myrtle Beach in the summer, had to be terrifying. Hopefully, nothing bad had befallen him, but that was a possibility the authorities had to consider, unfortunately.

  Chad informed the desk clerk that he was a doctor and offered his services, if necessary. He also told the woman that the other man in his party was a licensed social worker, so if the parents needed someone to talk with, he was sure he would make himself available as well. The clerk took down the information and thanked him profusely for the offer, saying she would make sure the word got to the proper authorities. He failed to mention that the recently infamous Hannah Stone was also traveling with him. He purposely left that little tidbit out of the equation. If those in charge called upon Hannah to aid in the search, it would be because she felt compelled to do so, not because her recent adventures were plastered all over the news media.

  She was sleeping peacefully as he looked over at her now. Hopefully, she would continue to do that all night. He was fidgety. He got up and paced the floor. Why he was so concerned about a child he didn't know was beyond him. As a doctor, he'd learned early on to show compassion to his patients and their families, but also to know when to disconnect from the personal side of it. People die, it's a fact of life. He was one of the most compassionate doctors at the hospital, but if he fell apart each time he lost a patient, he would be no good for his other ones, so it was something he'd had to cope with many times.

  Maybe it was because he and Hannah were planning to start a life together and someday have a family that this hit him so hard. Here, he was always telling her to stay out of things, and he was contemplating joining the search party.

  He called Alan around midnight. As it turned out, the other man was still wide-awake as well. He agreed to go outside on the balcony, where the two of them could talk without waking the girls.

  Chad pulled a chair over to the railing of his own while Alan did the same, and the two of them discussed the search from across the wrought iron. They talked quietly so as not to disturb any of the other guests, but with all the activity, he doubted many of them were actually sleeping.

  "I gave our names to the woman at the front desk. I told her we were available if needed. I hope you don't mind," he told his friend.

  "I was going to do the same in the morning, actually. Did you hear any news while you were down there?"

  Chad relayed to Alan what he hadn't been able to tell Hannah before she drifted off. Alan, too, was noticeably upset.

  "What about Hannah? Any sightings or premonitions?"

  "None that I know of, I laced her tea with rum, hoping it would make her sleep."

  "So, if an apparition does not appear to her, that might mean the boy is alive?"

  "I don't know how all this psychic stuff plays out, but I would assume that is a good sign. Unless, this particular little spirit doesn't know how to contact her," Chad added sadly.

  "We can't think like that, especially if we plan to help. Are you going to join in the search?"

  "I am giving it some serious thought. I'll speak to Hannah in the morning."

  "Cassie and I discussed it earlier. She had only gone to sleep right before you called."

  "What did she think?'

  "She thinks we all need to help in whatever way we can, including Hannah."

  Chad sighed. "For all my lectures to her on staying safe, because I know she can't stay uninvolved, I have to agree this time. A child's life is at stake. The longer he goes missing, the harder it will be to find him."

  Shortly after, the men said goodnight again and went back into their rooms. Chad crawled into bed and was finally able to sleep for a few hours. At dawn, he was up again. Hannah was still sleeping peacefully, so he dressed and went downstairs to find out if there was any word on the missing boy.

  When he returned to the room with coffee and sweet rolls, a rare treat, since he tried to eat healthy most of the time, Hannah was up.

  "Hey, you're awake, did you sleep well?' he asked cheerily as he set down the tray and handed her a cup of fresh coffee.

  "Surprisingly, I did," she said as she took a sip. She was dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a tank top, her curly hair pulled up in a scrunchee.

  "I'm glad of that. Honey, why don't you sit down? There were some things I didn't get to tell you last night before you went to sleep."

  "Oh, it can't be bad news about the boy. I know it can't."

  "How do you know that, Hannah?"

  "I-I don't know exactly how I know. I just know. It's a feeling deep in my gut that he is out there, alone
and frightened, but he is alive. I just feel it."

  "No visitors last night from the other side? No spirits wanting your help to cross over?"

  "None," she replied, shaking her head as she reached for a cinnamon roll.

  He proceeded to fill her in on what he knew. The only news this morning was that the search party was still out.

  "How horrible for that young father," she said. "For the mother, too; they both must be beside themselves."

  "Al and I spoke late last night out on the balcony. We both feel we should offer our help. Actually, I did offer my services as a doctor and his as a social worker, but we think there is more we can do. Even Cassie agrees that we should all offer to join the search party. What are your thoughts on that?" he asked.

  "Did you mention my name when you offered your services?" she asked.

  "No, I did not. That was not my call to make."

  "I think we should offer our help. No one needs to know who we are unless…"

  "Unless what?" he asked.

  "If I start getting…premonitions…"

  "Let's play it by ear. If someone makes the connection that you are the person who recently solved those two murders, okay. Otherwise, we keep it to ourselves. If you start having more of those 'gut feelings' you mentioned, that's when we'll talk to the police."

  "Agreed," she said.

  "Why don't you give Cassie a call and ask them to come over here when they are ready."

  She nodded and made the call.

  So much for the peaceful, uneventful vacation they all craved. But a life was in danger, and not one of them could turn their backs on that.

  Cassie and Alan came to their room a short time later. The four of them discussed the situation over coffee before heading downstairs to offer their assistance, in whatever way they could most be helpful.

  The desk clerk had a list on the desk. She told them to add their names as volunteers. She explained that a representative from the police department would be by in half an hour. All the hotels were participating in aiding them in the search, and he would make his rounds to gather and prep any new volunteers.